Wednesday, 5 October 2011

Ian Huntley throat slasher jailed for life

A psychopathic prisoner who slashed Soham murderer Ian Huntley across the neck with a makeshift knife has been jailed for life.
Damien Fowkes, 36, was ordered to serve a minimum of 20 years for attempting to murder Huntley and for the manslaughter of child killer Colin Hatch in a separate attack.
Fowkes, who is serving a life sentence for armed robbery, admitted at Hull crown court on Tuesday that he tried to kill Huntley at Frankland prison, Durham, in March 2010. He also admitted to the manslaughter of Hatch, whom he strangled with ligatures torn from bed sheets, at Full Sutton prison, near York, in February.
The wound to Huntley's neck required 21 stitches, and Fowkes asked prison officers if his victim had died and expressed regret that he had not.
Fowkes was initially charged with Hatch's murder, but his plea of guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility was accepted by the court.
The judge Mr Justice Coulson expressed concern about the attacks within high-security prisons, especially in the light of another death of a prisoner at Frankland in recent days.
He added: "While everyone is acutely aware of the costs of monitoring vulnerable and high-risk prisoners, from what I have seen in this case it appears that the management systems currently in place require urgent review."
The court had been told that Fowkes has strong psychopathic tendencies and a particular hatred of child killers. Hatch had a string of convictions from the age of 15 for assaulting young boys before he was jailed for the murder of seven-year-old Sean Williams in Finchley, north London, in January 1994. In the attack on Huntley, Fowkes targeted the Soham killer after he finished his shift as a cleaner.
Huntley is serving a life sentence for the murders of Jessica Chapman and Holly Wells, both 10, in Soham, Cambridgeshire, in 2002.
Graham Reeds, prosecuting, said: "The first Huntley knew of the attack was when the defendant approached him without any warning at all and slashed his neck with a home-made weapon." It was fashioned from a razor that was melted on to the handle of a plastic knife or other utensil.
The court then heard that Fowkes chased Huntley, trying to stab him again. "He tried several times to stab or slash Huntley in the chest but Huntley managed to get away," it was told.
Evidence from Huntley's bloodstained shirt showed that "two blows were struck, one to the neck and one to the chest." A prison officer arrived and distracted Fowkes by telling him to drop the weapon. Huntley threw furniture at Fowkes and barricaded himself behind a door, which his assailant tried to force open. More prison officers arrived and Fowkes gave himself up, "saving Huntley from further attack", after he first threatened to cut himself.
Later, the court heard, two weapons were found on Fowkes, one constructed from a razor and the other a utensil sharpened to a point.
The prosecution said Fowkes asked a prison officer: "Is he dead? I hope so." When he asked if he had killed Huntley and was told he had not, Fowkes replied: "I wish I had."
Reeds described Huntley as a "notorious child killer, both inside prison and in society in general" and added: "The defendant has since expressed a particular hatred for child killers."
The judge was told he killed Hatch on D Wing at Full Sutton, a unit for vulnerable prisoners, where Fowkes had been placed after self-harming.
Fowkes barricaded himself and Hatch into a cell and told prison officers he would not kill him if they stayed outside. The officers dealt with the incident as a hostage situation. But, with the officers unable to enter, Fowkes killed Hatch using strips of bedding.
At one point, Fowkes told officers: "He's a nonce. He doesn't deserve to live." He later claimed Hatch had contacted him by telepathy, asking Fowkes to kill him.
Reeds said Fowkes claimed he was motivated to commit both attacks because "they were offenders against children." He said Fowkes remarked: "They just do my head in. It was the same when I did Huntley."
The court heard that Fowkes has a long criminal record dating back to 1990, mainly robberies and weapons offences.
Three psychiatrists and two psychologists have examined him and agreed he has a "deep seated disorder of great severity". Fowkes had a severe personality disorder and "is, and will remain, a danger".

by Helen Carter taken from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/oct/05/ian-huntley-throat-slasher-jailed